Wiscasset Elementary School second grader Gabe Wood-Major, 7, and mother Ashley Wood were doing one high five after in the cafeteria Thursday night, Dec. 7. At WES’ Family Code Night, the two were taking turns being navigator and driver of a device with computer puzzles as practice in coding or – as WES computer teacher Ashley LaCroix explained with help from students – putting in things for computers to do.

Major said she thought it was fantastic the school offered the event. “It’s a great way for (students) to show what they’re learning in computer class. And they get to show their parents a thing or two, so that’s always good.”

Wood-Major said his favorite part was moving up in levels on the puzzle they were doing. LaCroix at times gathered attendees’ attention for coding facts, including the term “code-efficient,” or doing each task in as few steps as possible.

Lacroix said in an interview, she asked kindergartners days earlier which was smarter: Them or a computer. Most said a computer; then she said she got to see the wonder of their realizing they are, after she gave the example of a robot. To move its foot or do anything else, the robot has to be told, she said.

Lacroix said the night’s turnout of about 13 families was awesome. Principal Stacy White, circulating the cafeteria, praised LaCroix’s organizing of the event, LaCroix’s class lessons on coding leading up to it, and teachers for helping that night. White, who took over as principal last summer, would like to do more family nights, which could focus on other subjects, she said. “We need to do more of it, and I want to do more of it.” She and teachers interviewed said events like that night’s connect students and the school with the community, and help parents become involved with their children’s learning.

Asked for her observations, Donna Barnes, in her 44th year teaching art in Wiscasset’s schools, said she was seeing families working together and enjoying a common interest in something that connects them to the world.

In a video LaCroix introduced, former President Barack Obama said, “Don’t just play on your phone, program it.”

Coding is a big part of the future of many fields, LaCroix told participants. “It just seems to be growing and growing.”

According to LaCroix, the event and 74 others were happening around Maine over Computer Science Education Week. The Maine Math & Science Alliance worked with the school, she said. The California nonprofit MV Gate started Family Code Night, she said.

LaCroix told attendees, there are no mistakes. Those are just a chance to learn, and an opportunity to debug, she said.